Bennet, Cortez Masto, Durbin, Colleagues Demand DHS Reduce Delays for DACA Renewals

Mar 20, 2026| Press Releases

Washington, D.C. - Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet joined Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), as well as 38 of their Democratic colleagues to send a letter to outgoing Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Joseph Edlow demanding that the Department reduce the delays in processing renewal applications under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), President Trump's nominee to replace Secretary Noem, also received a copy of this letter. Created in 2012, DACA protects individuals who came to the United States as children from deportation. DACA recipients across the country are experiencing increasing delays in renewing their status.

"DACA has allowed hundreds of thousands of Dreamers an opportunity to pursue higher education and meaningful careers while remaining in the only home they have ever known. Delays in processing DACA renewals are increasing the instability and uncertainty that DACA recipients already face. These delays can have profound consequences. When renewals are not processed before expiration, recipients lose employment authorization and, in many cases, their jobs. Employers experience workforce disruptions, including in sectors such as health care and education and in small businesses. Hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizen children have a parent with DACA, and when their work authorization lapses due to slow renewals, families endure heightened financial instability," wrote the Senators.

The Senators also call attention to the increased risk of detention and deportation faced by DACA recipients when their renewal applications are not processed before their status expires. According to the Department, as many as 270 DACA recipients have been detained and 174 have been deported.

"DACA recipients contribute billions of dollars annually to the national economy and serve vital roles in our communities. Administrative delays in DACA renewals undermine not only individual stability but also broader economic resilience. To reduce these disruptions and risks for DACA recipients, we urge you to reduce processing times for DACA renewal applications and reduce the volume of pending cases through timely renewals," concluded the Senators.

Bennet has consistently fought the Trump Administration's cruel and inhumane immigration policies. He recently took to the Senate floor to condemn Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) violence and lawlessness and to denounce the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Bennet has also continuously called on now outgoing Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Noem to resign. Bennet voted against recent budget bills to extend DHS funding because they failed to overhaul ICE or ensure they are subject to the same common-sense standards we expect of our local law enforcement officials. He also introduced six amendments to the FY26 DHS appropriations bill that would protect children and families, bar enforcement at sensitive locations, and prohibit officers from wearing masks while requiring visible identification. Additionally, Bennet is working on legislation to rein in DHS and ICE. Last month, Bennet conducted an oversight visit of the ICE-GEO detention facility in Aurora, Colorado, and called for increased oversight of such facilities as well as expanded transparency and accountability for ICE. He also demanded DHS Secretary Noem abandon the proposed plan to open a new ICE detention facility in Hudson.

In January, Bennet joined his colleagues in introducing the Providing Useful Budgets for Localities to Invest in Cops by Substituting Appropriations from Federal Enforcement To Yield Results (PUBLIC SAFETY) Act to redirect nearly $75 billion in funding passed in the Republicans' One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) from ICE and send it instead to local law enforcement programs to help hire and train 200,000 local police officers in communities across the country. In February 2025, Bennet joined his Senate colleagues to introduce the Protecting Sensitive Locations Act, which would reinstate DHS's long-standing policies to prevent ICE from making arrests at sensitive locations like schools, hospitals, and places of worship. In August 2025, he joined the Immigration Enforcement Identification Safety (IEIS) Act to prohibit immigration enforcement officials from wearing masks and to require them to wear visible identification. In November 2025, Bennet joined his colleagues in introducing the bicameral Restoring Access to Detainees Act to ensure DHS allows non-citizens who have been detained to contact their legal counsel and families.

In addition to Bennet, Cortez Masto, and Durbin, U.S. Senators Angus King (I-Maine), Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), and Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) signed this letter.

The text of the letter is available HERE and below.

Dear Secretary Noem and Director Edlow:

We write to express serious concerns regarding delays in the processing of renewal applications under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Across the country, DACA recipients are reporting significant processing delays for their renewal applications. Many applicants who filed their renewals on time and in accordance with agency guidance are experiencing prolonged adjudication periods that extend beyond their current period of deferred action and employment authorization. We urge you to take all steps within your power to process renewal applications in a timely manner and protect the DACA recipients who rely on this program and who contribute so much to this country.

DACA has allowed hundreds of thousands of Dreamers an opportunity to pursue higher education and meaningful careers while remaining in the only home they have ever known. Delays in processing DACA renewals are increasing the instability and uncertainty that DACA recipients already face. These delays can have profound consequences. When renewals are not processed before expiration, recipients lose employment authorization and, in many cases, their jobs. Employers experience workforce disruptions, including in sectors such as health care and education and in small businesses. Hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizen children have a parent with DACA, and when their work authorization lapses due to slow renewals, families endure heightened financial instability.

Most concerningly, a lapse in DACA can result in an increased risk of being detained and even deported by federal immigration officials. Our offices have heard examples of constituents whose DACA has lapsed due to renewal delays being picked up by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). A DACA recipient whose only change of circumstance is a pending renewal application should not be at risk of their entire life being thrown into chaos due to indiscriminate immigration enforcement.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has also failed to provide clear notice as to policies or procedures that may be worsening this issue. For example, in helping our constituents address DACA renewal delays, some casework staff have been told that requests to expedite renewals will only be considered for recipients who work in the health care industry. While DACA health care workers are essential to the functioning of our local communities, they are by no means the only DACA recipients whose cases meet the agency's criteria to expedite a Renewal.

Many casework staff have also been informed that USCIS has frozen DACA renewal processing for individuals from 39 countries subject to President Trump's national security proclamations. This decision, which has not been publicly announced, could indefinitely delay the DACA renewal of thousands of beneficiaries, subjecting them to potential detention and removal to countries where they did not grow up.

To better understand and address these concerns, we request detailed responses to the following questions:

1. What is the current average processing time for DACA renewal applications?

1. What steps is USCIS taking to ensure that timely filed renewal applicants do not experience lapses in employment authorization? What is the timeline for executing those steps?

1. What changes have been made to USCIS's policies, procedures, and guidance regarding DACA renewals since January 20, 2025?

1. What are USCIS's policies, procedures, and guidance regarding requests to expedite DACA renewals?

1. What steps does USCIS plan to take to ensure that renewals filed earlier than 150 days in advance of expiration are processed in a timely manner?

1. Does USCIS provide information to ICE regarding individuals' DACA expiration dates?

1. Does USCIS provide information to ICE regarding individuals' pending DACA renewals?

1. Does USCIS otherwise share information with ICE regarding DACA holders or facilitate the arrest, detention, or removal of DACA holders or individuals with renewals for DACA pending? If so, please describe this information sharing and/or facilitation in detail.

1. How many individuals with DACA renewal pending have been detained?

a. How many remain in immigration custody?

b. How many have been removed?

1. How many pending DACA renewals have been filed as of March 1, 2026 that are subject to the adjudicative hold for countries listed in Presidential Proclamations 10949 and 10998?

1. How many pending DACA renewals have been filed as of March 1, 2026, that are subject to any other adjudicative holds? Please provide the number per type of adjudicative hold.

DACA recipients contribute billions of dollars annually to the national economy and serve vital roles in our communities. Administrative delays in DACA renewals undermine not only individual stability but also broader economic resilience.

To reduce these disruptions and risks for DACA recipients, we urge you to reduce processing times for DACA renewal applications and reduce the volume of pending cases through timely renewals. We request a written response by April 17, 2026. Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter.

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